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C.SSX 28399 Able Seaman Alfred William Brown RN

The Start

1

HMS Alcantara

I suppose the best place to start is on the Troop ship Alcantara. My father was aboard when she left Gibralta on the 2nd September 1939 heading towards Malta.
She was being accompanied by 2 other Troop ships, the Franconia and the Empress of Canada which was the command ship. The Franconia was carrying French Foreign Legion and Horses.
1 Day out and Great Britain declared war on Germany.
The Captain of the Empress of Canada decided that it would be prudent to introduce A Zig Zag pattern and informed both the other ships to do the same.
Unfortunately the Captain of the Franconia did not know his Zigs from his Zags and collided with the Alcantara.
Both ships were damaged but were able to continue on to Malta Grand Harbour.
The word was later that most of the horses were so badly injured by the collision that they had to be slaughtered at sea.

Real Story Part 4 & Epilogue

2

HMS Dunoon

This is a photo of HMS Sutton a sister ship to the Dunnon built the same year Pennant N52

She was a coal burning Hunt Class Sloop.710 Ton.Built 1919,Commissioned 1939.She was sunk 30th March 1940 in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth by a mine.
Pennant N78

Buster was assigned to the HMS Dunoon on the 30th November 1939.
Her prime objective was to sweep for mines around Malta.
In December 39,she was recalled to England, stopping at Gibraltar for fuel. Bad weather through the Bay of Biscay
was almost too much for her. She used up all her coal, everything, nailed down or not, was burnt to keep her
steaming. She successfully reached Plymouth.
Early January 40 found her assigned to the North Sea off Newcastle.
One incident of a Kite Mining Wire latching on to a submerged mine. The mine was dragged under the ship and up the other side without touching her. All the crew who saw this happen dived for cover. The Captain Lt.Cmdr Barkley ( Black Bob), was furious. All the men who ran had noted on their personal records "Infamous Character".
You can understand he was not well liked, he was a brute of a man.
He left her on 14th January 1940.

3

HMS Resolution

Royal Sovereign Class Battleship
aka'R' class Revenge Class
Built 1916,Commissioned 30 Dec. 1916
29,150 Tons,length 620' beam 102'
capable of 20.75 knots.15 inch guns

He joined the Reso. on the 6th March 1940. She was in for a refit in Plymouth.
In April she joined the fleet outside Narvik Norway, as a support ship.
On the 6th April 40 while anchored off Tjeidsundet, 30 miles from Narvik. she was attacked by a Heinkel 111. She sustained minor damage with 2 crew killed and 27 injured.
The crew made temporary repair and she stayed on station for a month. After that she returned to Plymouth where complete repair was made.
In July 40 she sailed to Gibraltar and met up with HMS Barham. The order came to intercept 6 Vichy French war ships. With no success they joined H Force and Operation 'Caterpult' with HMS Hood and HMS Valiant off Morocco.
They joined in the bombardment of Oran Harbour.
In July she joined operation 'Hurry', to provide cover for the delivery of Hurricanes to Malta. Also helped with the attack on Cagliari.
In August she was ordered to proceed with the Barham to West Africa.
Operation 'Menace' had been put in place.
The ships were ordered off Dakar, Senegal.They were there to coax the Vichy navy out of harbour. At the same time Free French troops were to be landed and attack Dakar. All went horribly wrong. The Free French could not be landed.
On the 23 September the Resolution took 4 hits from shore batteries and had to retire. Later when she rejoined, a Vichy Sub.'the Beverziers',came out of the harbour as though to surrender, instead fired a torpedo which struck the Reso.on the Port side. The damage was so severe and with a 12 degree list, the Captain ordered ballast to the Starboard side to tilt the Port side and the damaged hull out of the sea.
To assist the Starboard screw, the crew put up a massive awning as a sail.
This done and with her list they sailed out of dangers way. Later a tow was put onto the Barham and they sailed down to Freetown Sierra Leone.
The hole was concreted up as makeshift and as soonas she was seaworthy sailed back to Portsmouth.
The Reso. upon arrival they encountered the first massive air raid on Pompey. All the ships stayed out in the channel otherwise there may have been another Pearl Harbour. Pompey was plastered.
She left Portsmouth in March 41. First to Halifax,Nova Scotia carrying gold bullion. The gold had been put into margerine boxes as a disguise. My father helped unload this gold.
Then on to Philadelphia for complete repair.He left her on 4th May 1941

Photos of HMS Resolution

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